Pros and Cons of the 6 Most Popular Kitchen Sink Styles

When choosing a kitchen sink for your remodel, illume Property Partners will help you find the style that best suits your lifestyle and aesthetic preferences. The sink is a fundamental aspect of a kitchen, so it's essential to learn about and consider the various features available and make your decision based on how you want it to benefit your daily life. Understanding the pros and cons of popular kitchen sink styles will help you determine your priorities and choose the best fit for your remodel.

Drop-In

As the name implies, this type of sink is placed into a hole in the kitchen counter from above. The rim of the sink rests on top of the counter. Drop-ins fit nicely with traditional or contemporary kitchen designs. While this is the most straightforward style of kitchen sink to install, the rim obstructs a clean sweep from the counter to the sink bowl and requires consistent cleaning.

Under-Mount

Opposite the drop-in sink, under-mount sinks are attached to the countertop from below. This design creates a smooth transition from countertop to sink bowl, making sweeping-style cleanups a breeze. The sleek appearance can be seen as more attractive than drop-in sinks, but there's an opportunity for food waste to collect underneath the countertop where it connects to the bowl.

Farmhouse

Farmhouse or apron sinks are placed at the front of the counter with one side of the basin exposed. Ideal for traditional, rustic, and shaker-style kitchens, farmhouse sinks are a bold yet elegant statement piece. This sink style is often more voluminous than others, allowing for the comfortable washing of sizeable bowls and pans. Because there isn't any counter space between the person cleaning the dishes and the sink bowl, it can be easier and less physically taxing to get through your washing. The other side of that feature is that water drippage and leakage can be more common, causing unpleasant messes.

Integrated

Integrated sinks are manufactured as a continuous part of the countertop, creating a completely seamless look. They add a modern design element to a kitchen and introduce abundant options for personalization. While integrated sinks are exceptionally pleasing to look at and eliminate crevasses for food and mold to gather, they require custom craftsmanship and are extremely difficult to replace.

Single Bowl

Ideal for contemporary kitchen designs, sinks with one basin allow for maximum depth and space. Single bowl sinks are the most convenient kitchen sink style for washing high quantities of dishes or large pots and pans. However, a countertop drying rack will likely be necessary because single bowl sinks lack separate compartments for each step of dishwashing.

Double Bowl

While the appearance of a double basin sink may not appeal to all homeowners, it provides divided cleaning areas so that some dishes can be soaking while others are being washed. Different inserts and customizations make double bowl sinks ideal for homeowners that want to tailor their sink features to their specific needs. Although double bowl sinks provide additional cleaning stations and personalization options, it's unlikely that either basin will be big enough to accommodate large dishes.

illume Property Partners comes equipped with knowledgeable and experienced subcontractors ready to help you explore kitchen sink options and choose the right one for you. Once you've made a decision that you're excited about, we'll take care of the rest. You can be confident that you'll end up with a quality sink that compliments the rest of your kitchen remodel and enhances your daily cooking experiences.